So far I have found one potential use which is to look up disease mortality rates. If you type in lung cancer for example, you will get Canadian & world mortality figures (number of deaths & rate of death, per year). If you type lung cancer Italy, you get the results for that country & the world.

More interesting is the list1 of background sources and references that pops up when you click on source information for the original query. In this case:

[Poodwaddle.com.] World Clock. 2009 This one is mesmerizing and creepy. I'm not sure that Poodwaddle is an entirely credible source (possibly why Wolfram|Alpha leaves that bit of info out), but whoever they are the data apparently comes from "World Health Oragnization, CIA Factbook, US Census Bureau and other sources."

I guess potentially this is a very quick way to find sources that offer statistics for a particular disease, though you still have to search the resources to find the specific data. Unfortunately Canadian resources are not included. Also not sure which diseases are in there. Only one way to find out...

...even more interesting:

Type in heart attack and you get a risk calculator (based on Framingham) that lets you input age, gender, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and risk factors, and which then computes the likelihood that the person whose data is inputted will die from a heart attack in the next ten years.2 You are also shown the impact of cholesterol and blood pressure on risk.

I look forward to testing it out further over time. My biggest concern is how reliable and authoritative the information we are getting is. So far my confidence has not been inspired,1 and I'm not ready to recommend it except as something with potential that's fun to play with. Try asking it how old it is.

Cheers,FF

1Here's what W|A has to say about the list:

This list is intended as a guide to sources of further information. The inclusion of an item in this list does not necessarily mean that its content was used as the basis for any specific Wolfram|Alpha result.

Hmm. Interesting way to cite your sources. Not sure this would wash in a term paper. I have a feeling the issue will come up again (it was also mentioned in the question period of Mr.W's lecture at Berkman Center, Harvard.)

2same result if you input myocardial infarction. No link is suggested between the two terms by W|A.

Yes it would have been nice to talk more at the conference. Am still thinking about how learning theories can be applied in an instructional (one-shot) rather than teaching (building over time) environment. May write about it at some point.

I guess I'll have to make sure my posts are really interesting from now on!

About Info.Rx

Update:

In the fall of 2008 a Clinical Medical Librarianship component was added to the service. The librarian now acts as a resident supervisor in the teaching rooms at the clinic one half-day per week, providing support for clinical decision-making in addition to continued support for patient education.

The service is based on an innovative InformationRx model first implemented in the UK (see: Early experience of thecontribution of an information specialist within a primaryhealthcare team: a partnership venture betweenlibrary and healthcare services, doi: 10.1177/0961000604048915].

This model sees the information professional acting as a member of the health care team by providing informational/instructional support for patients/families and health professionals at point of care. Support for the service is provided by the main hospital library and is vital for ensuring long term sustainability.

The information professional is available 7 hrs per week to consult with patients/families that are in need of health information.

Health staff are encouraged to write InformationRx for patients which can then be filled by the information professional. Consultations with patients are treated as clinical encounters and are documented in the charts. The service has a clinic in the Centre's appointment scheduling software.

Patients and family members are welcome to drop in, or to submit questions by phone or email at their convenience. They can schedule appointments by contacting the information professional directly or by calling their team coordinator.

The library provides support by welcoming questions from patients and their families when the coordinator is not available. Herzl patients and families are able to borrow books from the Patient and Family Resource Centre's (PFRC) print collection, and a family medicine section has been created on the PFRC website which provides links to reliable and up-to-date consumer health resources.

Author"s note

Important: While based on real consultations, the cases posted in this blog have been mashed up, fictionalized, posted out of sequence, and otherwise tinkered with in order to maintain the privacy and comfort of the parties involved.

Also, the views and opinions expressed in this blog are strictly my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employers.

About this blog

The Patient health Information Service at Herzl (H-PHIS) opened its doors in early July of this year (2007) and is in the early developmental stages. The challenges faced by myself (the service's coordinator), the staff, and the health care team at the HFPC are many and varied, as is to be expected when implementing a new and innovative service.

Perhaps the most unique aspect of the InfoRx model is the presence and participation of the information professional/librarian at point of care. This new and multidisciplinary approach presents a distinctive challenge. Health and support staff are not always clear on what knowledge and skills a librarian brings to the team. Conversely, I must be able to recognize and adapt to the needs and character of the community and of the setting itself.

This blog was created in response to some very astute and constructive criticism. After presenting to the residents at their weekly rounds, I was approached by one of the partners at the clinic who suggested that rather than introducing myself and the service and then explaining how to use it, it would have been more effective to present some cases illustrating what the service has to offer to the residents and to their patients. I see this as a perfect example of the kind of disconnect that can happen when two very different professions come together. In essence I had presented the way I would have to my own professional colleagues, but this was not the most appropriate approach given my audience.

After giving it some thought it occurred to me that it could be useful, both for myself and the rest of the team, for me to present a weekly case here, and talk about some of the challenges we are faced with and how these might best be resolved. Hopefully this will introduce some transparency to the InfoRx process.

This is meant to serve as a record of, and forum for discussion about, our challenges and successes. It is hopefully also an opportunity for other information professionals to be inspired by one example of what can be accomplished outside of the library setting.

About Me

Francesca Frati has an MLIS from Dalhousie University and is the wearer of many interconnected professional hats. She works at the SMBD Jewish General Hospital Health Sciences Library (HSL) as Patient Information Specialist and Instruction Librarian, at the Herzl Family Practise Centre (HFPC) as Patient Information Coordinator, and in her spare (work) time provides research support for physicians.
Francesca is a member of the advisory committee for the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) Conference on Practise Improvement: "Blueprint for the Medical Home".